Play More and Clean Less

Minimalism (Min-i-ma-lism)

Get ready to learn the simplest big word that you've ever heard. This word is minimalism, and minimalism is all about being simple. If you were to practice minimalism then you would be called a minimalist. Right now becoming a minimalist is a very popular thing to do and for good reasons too. After learning about these reasons you might even want to become a minimalist yourself! Then, when your friends are curious about what you are doing, you can simply tell them, "I am intentionally trying to live with only the things I really need." (1)

Six Good Reasons

1. Focusing on the most important stuff: health, relationships, passions, growth, and helping other people (2)
2. Focusing on having great things, not a lot of things (3)
3. Focusing on activities more than material things (3)
4. Focusing on just what you need (3)
5. Focusing on keeping the earth clean (3)
6. Focusing on being at peace with yourself (3)

How Minimalism "Plays" Out...

With Your Favorite Toys

Figure 1: Batman Action Figure

Imagine all of your favorite toys. The reason that some toys are your favorites is that you have likes. Your favorite toys usually fit many of those likes. These are the toys you play with a lot, and you have a ton of fun doing it. For example, my favorite toy was a Batman action figure. I played with Batman all the time. Batman and I often liked to work alone even though there were many other toys in the toy bin...

With Your Other Toys

Now imagine all of your other toys. The reason that some toys are not your favorites is that you have dislikes. Your other toys fit some of your dislikes or they just don't fit your likes. I bet that you don't play with these toys very often, and when you do its not as much fun as when you play with your favorite toys. For example, I had many other action figures that I did not play with that often. Some of them I didn't play with at all. When I wanted to play I would look for Batman, but he would always get lost in all of my other toys. When you are looking for your favorite toys it is really easy to make a mess. Then you have less clean room to play in and more stuff to clean up. What happens is that your other toys just end up getting in the way. They are taking up your time and space that could be used to play! When you realize this, you may decide that your other toys need a new home where they will be played with more. Since everyone has different likes, your other toys can become another persons favorite toys. If you decided to just keep your favorite toys and donate your other toys, then less fortunate kids would be able to have some toys too. Then you could play without other stuff getting in your way. You could have more play time and 'minimal' clean up time. At this point you can consider yourself a minimalist because you have minimized something of less importance (other stuff and clean up time) to make room for something more important to you (PLAY TIME!). You are also a minimalist because you focused on the importance of helping others rather than having extra stuff for yourself.

Figure 2: Pile of Toys

With More Favorites

Figure3: Pile of Video Games

Besides playing with toys I am sure that there are many other things that you also like to do. Maybe you like to play video games and play outside when the weather is nice. Some days the weather is bad or you just might want to play video games. However, if you have a lot of video games you might have a hard time finding your favorite games that you want to play most of the time. Again, it is really easy to end up making a mess when you have a lot of stuff. After your tower of video games collapses you have the one you want and you begin to play. Then, when the weather gets nice you decide that you want to go outside, but you have a big mess to clean up first. You might ask yourself, "why do I have all of these video games anyways?" That is a good question. You have favorite video games just like you have favorite toys, and you have other video games just like you have other toys. The other video games end up getting in the way of your fun instead of giving you a fun experience. When you realize this you might decide that it would be best to donate your other video games and just keep your favorites. By doing this you become a minimalist by now having just what we need to have your favorite kind of fun while providing other kids with video games that might end up being their favorites. Now you can play without any extra stuff getting in your way! Being a minimalist has never felt so good!!!

Figure 4: Kids Playing a Video Game

                                                    

                                                                References

(1) Becker, Joshua. (n.d.). What is minimalism? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.becomingminimalist.com/what-is-minimalism/
(2) Millburn, J. F. & Nicodemus, R. (n.d.) What is minimalism? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/
(3) Wilkins, C. Melissa. (n.d.) 5 types of minimalism [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://nosidebar.com/types-of-minimalist/

Batman action figure [Photograph]. (2015) Retrieved from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk news/video-games-hyperactivity-kids-linked-5436617

Pile of toys [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.poshtiger.co/blog/how-to-have-a-toy-cull-and-get-away-with-it/

Pile of video games [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://esmeraldaip.com/tackle-your-pile-of-shame/

Kids playing a video game [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://esmeraldaip.com/tackle-your-pile-of-shame/